New Trial Ordered for Bradley Barton by the Alberta Court of Appeal

On Friday, June 30, 2017 the Alberta Court of Appeal published their decision in R v Barton. A panel of 3 Court of Appeal judges led by Chief Justice Catherine Fraser unanimously ruled that the jury acquittal of Bradley Barton should be overturned, and that matter should go back for a new trial on a charge of 1st Degree Murder. Mr. Barton was represented by Mr. Dino Bottos at trial and at appeal. Mr. Barton has until September to apply for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

“The appeal court wrote that “the time has come to push the reset button for jury charges in this country for cases involving an alleged sexual assault.” But Barton’s lawyer, Dino Bottos, said the appeal court is doing so at his client’s expense. “I think the court of appeal is making a political statement as much as a legal one,” Bottos said. “It’s trying to correct every perceived inequity in sexual assault law in Canada in this judgment and it went far beyond what the Crown, on appeal, was arguing and that’s not fair to Mr. Barton.”